This invention relates to magnetic thin films and is more especially directed to deposition of thin films of chromium dioxide onto all or specific portions of the surface of a substrate.
Chrome oxide, i.e., CrO.sub.2, has become highly favored as a magnetic recording medium because of its desirable ferromagnetic properties. Currently, magnetic recording material is typically produced by sputtering chromium dioxide onto a substrate such as tape or disk material. Sputtering has a very high failure rate, and this raises the average cost of producing the magnetic medium.
Deposition of thin films of CrO.sub.2 has been studied but no suitable or reliable means to produce chrome oxide recording media has been found, at least selectively on the micron scale.
The decomposition of metal hexacarbonyls to form metallic thin films has been studied, but there has been a propensity for the films formed from decomposition of hexacarbonyls to incorporate contaminants.